OR GAZELLES. 427 



the temperature of the climate, than on the na- 

 ture or fpecies of the animal. If we may be- 

 lieve 



thefe ftones are about feven or eight days journey from Bag- 

 pagaar. They commonly fell at forty crowns a pound ; and 

 the longeft kind are the beft. They are likewife found in 

 certain cows, which are much larger, though not fo valuable, 

 as thofe produced by the goats. The bezoars extracted from 

 a rare kind of apes, which are fmall and long, are m the 

 highefl eftimation ; Voyage de Thevenot, torn. 3. p. 293. — Per- 

 fia produces finer Bezoar (tones than any other country of 

 the world. They are extra&ed from the fides of certain wild 

 he-goats, to the livers of which they are attached ; Voyage de 



Feynes, p. 44. The bezoar, that famous medicinal Hone, 



ought to be ranked among the number of drugs. It is a ten- 

 der ftone, confuting of coats or pellicles, like an onion. It is 

 found in the bodies of the wild and domeftic goats along the 

 gulf of Perfia, in the province of Coraifon, which is the an- 

 cient Margiana, and is incomparably better than that brought 

 from the kingdom of Golconda. But, as the goats were 

 brought from a diftance of three days journey, we found be- 

 zoars in fome of them only, and even that in fmall quantities. 

 We preferved thefe goats alive fifteen days. They were fed 

 with common green herbage ; but, upon opening them, no- 

 thing was found. I kept them during this time, in order to 

 difcover whether, as is alledged, it be a particular herb which 

 heats thefe animals, and produces this ftone in their bodies. 

 We are told by the natives of Perfia, that the more this ani- 

 mal paftures in parched countries, and eats dry and aromatic 

 herbs, the bezoar is the more falutary. Coraffon and the bor- 

 ders of the Perfian gulf are the drieft countries in the world. In 

 the heart of thefe ftones, there are always pieces of brambles, 

 or fome other vegetable, that ferve as a nucleus, round which 

 the humour that compofes this ftone coagulates. It is wor- 

 thy of remark, that, in India, the fhe-goats produce bezoar, 

 qnd that, in Perfia, it is produced by the wedders and he- 

 goats. The Perfians efteem their own bezoar, being hotter 

 and better conco&ed, as four times more valuable than the In- 

 dian kind. The former they fell at fifty-four livres the kou- 



ra g* 



